Dispensing and display device



May 12, 1931. H. c. SMITH ET AL 1,804,519

' ,DISPENSING AND DISPLAY DEVICE Filed March 2, 1929 T1-2:. A Z5gwwntoz/.s 5 25 Hmith,

--R. V/nnenn,

Patented May l2, i931 'raras HARRY C. SMITH AND DANEL ROLAND VANNENN,VOFNEW YORIL'N. Y., ASSIGNORS T'O THE'AUTODRINK COBPGRATON, Ol NEVI YORK,N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELA W ARE DISPENSING AND .'DSPLAY DEVCE.ApplicationfiledV March 2, 1929. Serial No. 344,028.

This invention relates to combined liquid dispensing and displaydevices, and has particularv reference to improvements in devices ofthis kind which include means to effect a constant circulation of theliquid through a transparent display container.

Devices 'of the foregoing type are particun larly adapted tothe 'displayand dispensing of beverages, and to this end it has been the practiceheretofore to provide a storage receptacle, suitably cooled, to containthe mainbody of beverage, and to effect a constant circulation ofbeverage from said storage receptacle through the display container andback to said receptacle.

Under the' foregoing conditions, if the display container is in any waysubjected to heat, it is manifestthat the Vbeverage in its passagethrough said container will. ab-Y sorb heat and that an added burdenwill be imposed on the cooling apparatus to maintain the liquid in thestorage receptacle at a desired temperature. Moreover, if the beverageis dispensed afterpassing into or through the display container andprior to its return to the storage receptacle, it may become too warm toconstitute a satisfying drink despite the fact that the beverage in therstorage receptacle may be maintained at a very low'temperature.Accordingly, it is an important object of the present inventiony toprovide means whereby a part of the beverage from'the storage receptaclemay be circulated through the display con tainer independently of themain body Vof beverage, thus to relieve the cooling apparatus of theburden of extracting heat absorbed by the beverage in its passagethrough the display container. ln connec-k tion with such an arrangementit is also a purpose to provide for conveniently directingV beveragebeing circulated'through the display containerv into thestoragereceptacle and to enable a fresh supply of beverage to be drawn fromtheV storage receptacle for circulation through the display container.

Another purpose of the. invention is t0 provide vmeans to circulatebeverage from the storage receptacle to aV dispensing sta#` tion andback to the storage receptacle independently of the display circulation,whereby .theungredients of the beverage will be maintained thoroughlymixed together and `whereby that portionof the beverage which isdispensed from time to time will be of substantially the sametemperature. as the beverage in the storage receptacle.

For cooling the beverage in the storage receptacle suitablerefrigeration apparatus is employed inclusive ofa cooling coil or coilspositioned against the'outside of the storage receptacle, and it is afurther purpose of the invention to provide means to assure and maintaingood heat radiating contact of saidcoil with said receptacle.

Further, it is a purpose of this invention to provide abeveragedispensing and display device having the characteristicsmentioned, which is simple in construction, relativelyinexpensive toproduce and operate, durable, compact and thoroughly reliable andefficient in use. c

lWith the foregoing and other purposes in view, the inventiony consistsin the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts as will be hereinafter more fully described, -illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and delined in the appended claims.

ln the drawings, wherein lilrecharacters of reference :denoteycorresponding parts in the different views :l y y Fig. l isk a vertical.section through a beverage dispensing and display device embodyingthenovel features of the invention; and 4 lig, 2is a detail sectional viewillustrating an alternative arrangement from that shown in Fig. l forcontrolling iiow of beverage from the cooling receptacle to the displaycontainer.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be observed that thepresent device includes essentially a storage? receptacle A. for thebeverage to be dispensed and displayed, refrigeration apparatusillustrated 'conventionally at B for cooling the beverage withinreceptacle A, and a display container C through which beverage from thestorage receptacle is adapted to be lated.

Display container C consists of a hollow, transparent body of anysuitable or pre- `erred design supported upon a base 11 and having anopening 12 formed in the bottom thereof through which a tube 13 eX-tends, suitable sealing means such as gaskets lll being provided toinsure against leakage of beverage from body 10 past said tube throughsaid opening 12.

rlube 13 is connected in any suitable manner at its lower end, outsideof body 10, with a casting 15 which has al pair' of Vseparate passages16 and 17 formedV therethrough, said tube being in communication withone of said passages and the other eing in communication with a pipe 18which is arried by said casting and extends upwarl y through said tubeinto body 10, communication between said tube and said bor y beingestablished in any suitable manner,.as, for example, by means ofapertures 19 formed in the side of the tube.

Connected with passages lf3 and 17 are beveragev feed and return pipesV20, 21 respectively, connected `with one another and with the storagereceptacle A atY or nearV the circubottom of the latter by a pipe 22.

Interposed at any suitable point in'feed pipe 2O or in pipe 22, betweenthe pipes 20, 2'1, is a pui ip 23 adapte-d to be'driven in any suitablemanner as, for example, .by an electric motor (not shown) to forcebeverage from pipe 22 through pipe 20, while interposed in pipe 22,according to the embodiment of our invention illustrated in Fig. 1, is apaircf valves 24, 25, the first of which is located between pipes 20, 21and the second between pipe 21 and receptacle A. Thus, upon opening ofboth valves 24e, 25, assuming pump to be in operation, it is apparentthat beverage will be drawn from storage receptacle A and forced throughpipe 20,passa0e 16 and pipe 18 into the hollow display body 10, and asis also apparent, beverage which is delivered to body 10 will gravitatetherefrom through tube 13, passage 17, with which said tube isconnected, and thence back through pipe 21 to pipe 22. ln this mannerthe. beverage circulating line consisting essentially of pipes 20, 21,22, and the display container body 10 may be charged with any desiredamount of beverage from receptacle A and When said line has been socharged it is manifest that upon closing of valve 25 the beveragewithinsaid line will continue to circulate inthe manner stated, independentlyof the beverage in receptacle A, so long as pump 23 is continued inoperation. It is equally'manifest that upon closing valve 24 and openingvalve 25, pipe 2O will be cleared of beverage and that substantially allof the beverage which was previously circulated independently of thebeverage in receptacle A will gravitate back to said receptacle, so thatby again opening valve 24 and subsequently closing valve 25 trieaforesaid circulating line may be charged with a fresh supply ofbeverage for circulation independently of the beverage in receptacle A.Thus, over any desired period of time a constant circulation of beveragethrough the display container may bemaintained without subjecting therefrigeration apparatus B to the burden ofextracting heat absorbed bythe beverage in its passage through the display container."

instead of employing two separate valves 24e, for the purposesaforestated we may employ a rsingle three-Way valve 26 located at thejunction of pipe 21 with pipe 22, as

shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Also, if desired, We may employ 'astepped member 27 positioned within body 10 to impart a novelcascade-like flowing' effecty to beverage delivered from pipe 18 intobody 10,'or, in'- steadv of member 27 we Amay employ any other suitablemeans to directthe flow of Vthe beverage from pipe 18 through body 10 inavpleasing or attention attracting manner. Y Y

For maintaining the beverage in receptacle A in a thoroughly mixedcondition and for dispensing beverage from said receptacle, aCirculating line of piping independent of thel display line is employed.Y This line consists of a feed pipe 28 leading from a bottom portion ofreceptacle A to anv inverted U-shaped passage 29 formed in the castingl,and a return pipe 30 leading from said passage 29 back toa top portionof said receptacle. is a pump 31 which may bedriven by the saine motoror other source of power for driving 23, or which may havea `source ofvpower individual thereto, the function of this pump beingl t'o circulatebeverage from receptacle A through line 28, 29, 30 back -to saidreceptacle either constantly or over such periods of time as maybe'dee'med necessary or desirable. By thus circulating said beverage`the return flow through pipe30is delivered' into Athe main body ofbeverage contained m receptacleV A under pressure developed by the pumpI3l so that the bever-` age is maintained agitated and in a thoroughlymixed conditionv sov longas the pumpis vmaintained in operation.

YFor dispensinor beveragel from the circulating Vline 23-30 Weemploy'any suitable form of valve such as a spigot 32 tapped into saidline at any suitable point, preferably at the point where said linemakes a return bend, as at the passage 30, ,to assure beverage flowingfrom said valve under substantially the same pressure at'whieh it iscirculatedvthrough said line; By covering pipes 28, 30 with suitableheatinsulat- Interposed inpipe 28v Jos ing material it is clear thatbeverage dispensed from spigot 32 will be at substantially the sametemperature as the beverage in receptacleA so long as a circulation ismaintained through line 28-30.

Refrigeration apparatus B which may be of any suitable or desired type,is inclusive of a coolingcoil 33 disposed against and havingmetal-to-metal contact with the receptacle A. In order to maintain goodheat conducting contact between said coil and said receptacle we' fillsuch spaces as may exist between the respective turns of the coil andbetween thecoil and the receptacle A with suitable heat conducting,non-corrosive material such as ordinary commercial solder as indicatedat 34, said material serving to prevent corrosion from forming a heatinsulating film between the coilr and receptacle or around the coil asis apparent.

l/Vithout further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes yin the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

7e claim l. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beveragestorage receptacle,A a beverage display container, and means connectedwith said storage receptacle operable to take a predetermined quantityof beverage therefrom and to circulate it through said display containerindependently of the bevtainer, yand means for charging said line ofpiping with beverage from said storage receptacle and for thereaftercutting off communication between saidline of piping and said storagereceptacle.

5. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beveragestoragereceptacle, a beverage display container, a line of piping havinga pump therein for circulating beverage through said display container,and valve means whereby said vline of piping may be charged withbeverage from said storage receptacle for circulation through saiddisplay container independently of the beverage contained within saidreceptacle and whereby substantially all beverage contained within saidcirculating line may be returned to said storage receptacle to enable asubstantially complete fresh charge of bev- .erageto be introduced intosaid line from said storage receptacle.

6. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beverage storagereceptacle, a beverage display container, beverage feed and return pipesleading to and from said display container, respectively, and valvemeans operable to establish communication of said pipes with one anotherand cut them off from communication with said storage receptacle and tocut them ofi' from communication with one another and to establishcommunication between said return pipeand said storage receptacle. Y YIn testimony whereof we hereunto aiiiX our signatures.

HARRY C. SMITH. y D. ROLAND VANNEMAN.

erage contained in said storage receptacle.

2. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beverage storagereceptacle, a beverage display container, a beverage circulating line ofpiping connected with said storage receptacle and inclusive of saiddisplay container, and means for placing said line of piping in and outof communication with said storage receptacle.

3. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beverage storagereceptacle, a beverage display container, a beverage circulating line ofpiping inclusive of a feed pipe leading to and a return pipe leadingfrom said display container, said line of piping being connected withsaid storage receptacle and said feed and return pipes being connectedwith one another, a pump for circulating beverage through said line ofpiping to and from said display container, and valve means forconnecting said line of piping with and disconnecting it vfrom saidstorage receptacle. v

4. In a beverage dispensing and display device, a beverage storagereceptacle, a beverage display container, a line of pipingV throughwhich beverage is adapted to be circulated to and from said display con-

